Stage Door News
Stage Door News
March 10th The Storefront Theatre Arts Initiative in conjunction with T he Watah Theatre is pleased to announce d’bi.young anitafrika’s return to the Toronto stage with her new triptych – T he Orisha Trilogy. Written and performed by the queendaughter of dub poetry, E su Crossing The Middle Passage is the explosive premiere piece of the trilogy.
Set aboard a slave ship, E su Crossing The Middle Passage, follows a womxn's journey into the TransAtlantic slave trade embodied by the spirit of Esu – the trickster God of Ifa, who sits at the crossroads. E su Crossing the Middle Passage is a pepperpot of theatricality, a story told through otherworldly movement, poetry, and sound.
The final installments of antiafrika’s trilogy, S he, Mami Wata & The Pussy WitchHunt a nd Bleeders are set to premiere May 422nd and August 414 of 2016. Throughout the trilogy, anitafrika continues her exploration of blood, Black identity, and divinity. The pieces takes us on a journey across the past, present, and future while reinterpreting the triangular journey of Black folks, voyaging from Africa to the Caribbean to North America under the influence and protection of The Orishas.
Guiding d’bi through this provocative journey is choreographer, B aKari I. Lindsay (C OBA founding member CoArtistic Director , A lvin Ailey Dance Theatre, Danny Grossman Dance Company, Artcho Danse Repertoire (Haiti), Toronto Dance Theatre) and the magical singercomposers t uku matthews a nd A mina Alfred .
The winner of two Dora awards, a KM Hunter Theatre award, a Mayor’s Arts award, a Vital People award, Canadian Poet of Honor, Toronto Leadership Lab fellow and YWCA Woman of Distinction in the Arts, anitafrika is an internationally celebrated AfricanJamaican dubpoet, playwrightmonodramatist, artseducator, artistic director, and scholartist, whose transdisciplinary work (dubpoetry, theatre, music, dance, writing, storytelling) explores themes of identity, gender, sexuality, divinity, the erotic, race, class, and the human experience. She is the creator of the human development framework – The Sorplusi Method – which has been employed by The Stephen Lewis Foundation, The Banff Centre, U of T, MaRS, Women’s College Hospital and other institutions globally. The collision of anitafrika’s diverse and multifaceted talent is brilliantly showcased in E su, a story that that crosses cultural boundaries and inspires r/evolution.
A Canadian treasure, an undisputed world class artist, a flaming comet. d’bi.young anitafrika is not to be missed!
Esu Crossing the Middle Passage
Written and performed by d ’bi.young anitafrika
April 1st 17th, WedSat 7:30, Sun 2:00
The Storefront Theatre, 955 Bloor Street West Tickets $25 available at @ www.thestorefronttheatre.com
Photo: d’bi.young anitafrika.
2016-03-10
Toronto: d'bi.young anitafrika returns to the Toronto stage after five years with part one of a new trilogy